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These are just a few typical reactions upon hearing that someone has become engaged to be married.

Engagement is an exciting time as promises are made to become man and wife, but it is an important time as well. It is a period of time for couples to work out many issues in preparation for saying “I do” and planning to spend the remainder of their lives together. Christians are reminded that promises are not to be taken lightly; engagement is a promise to marry.

Here are some points to consider in the time leading to engagement:

• Know yourself.
• Prepare yourself spiritually, financially, physically, educationally and socially.
• Date (or spend time with) a variety of different personality types.
• Determine in your mind what kind of person attracts you.
• Determine in your mind what kind of person would make a good mate and parent.
• Date those who most closely match your mental image of the “ideal mate.”
• Eliminate those from your list who do not check out for you.
• Focus on a few before determining just one.
• Discover if that person has an interest in you in the same way.
• Seek input from those you trust—parents, friends, ministers.
• Date exclusively and have a variety of dating experiences, but always honorably.
• Get to know each other under various circumstances.
• If both of you agree that it is time to move forward, seek premarital counsel.
• If all is well in the counseling sessions, then move towards engagement.

Engagement is a commitment to another person to be his or her lifetime partner. It should be entered with much thought, prayer and counsel. Marriage is an awesome experience that God calls honorable (Hebrews 13:4Hebrews 13:4Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.American King James Version×). After all, He invented marriage in the beginning (Genesis 1:26-28Genesis 1:26-2826 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
American King James Version×; 2:18-24). So, may your road to engagement and marriage be exciting and wonderful and bring honor to each other, your families and most importantly, the Inventor of marriage, God! UN

Gary Antion is a long-time minister, having served as a pastor in both the United States and Canada. He is also a certified counselor. Before his retirement in 2015, he was an instructor at Ambassador Bible College, where he had most recently also served as Coordinator.